(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Rochester Americans had a great bounce back performance in Game 4 of the North Division Final, whipping the Laval Rocket, 5-1, and forcing a do-or-die Game 5 in Quebec.
The fifth and deciding game on Sunday saw Rochester take two early penalties, and that pretty much gave Laval all the momentum they needed to cruise to a 5-0 win.
Rochester finished its run in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 record.
Laval scored on one of those two power play opportunities, and Rochester didn’t get a big save when they needed it from goalie Devon Levi.
After being lights-out in the three-game series sweep of the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Semifinal Round, Levi put in two good performances and three poor ones to put a big question mark on if he can be the Sabres' goaltender next season, or if he even is an NHL goalie.
Rochester was a great defensive team for most of the season, but when they weren’t, Levi was usually there to bail them out.
That didn’t happen in Game 5 against the regular season’s best team.
On the power play goal to give Laval a 1-0 lead, Amerks forward Josh Dunne broke his stick taking the draw. Levi made a good save on Joshua Roy from the left circle, but the puck came out to Alex Barre-Boulet, who ripped a one-timer past him.
Just 3:39 later, the Amerks failed twice to get the puck out of the zone, and Sean Farrell tipped in Zack Hayes' shot as he just barely kept the puck in. It was Hayes' first game of the playoffs.
Very early in the second period, Laval pretty much put things away, coming down on, what looked like, a harmless 3-on-3 rush. Levi was up on top of his crease, but Amerks defenseman Ryan Johnson elected not to take Lucas Condotta coming down the slot. Instead, he went down on one knee to try to block the shot and totally screened Levi.
Late in the second period, Laval scored another power play goal. Rochester appeared to be in good position, but Roy put a move on Johnson, turning him into a spinning top. At the same time, Amerks forward Konsta Helenius stopped skating and was gliding back to pick up Laurent Dauphin, who basically sat in Levi’s lap, giving him no chance.
On the fifth goal, winger Brent Murray’s pass hit a skate and went out to the left point. Amerks captain Mason Jobst was soft on the play, and turned it over instead of getting the puck out.
Oliver Kapanen ripped a shot by Levi, who completely overplayed the play as he slid right past the net.
Laval goalie Cayden Primeau won all three games in the series, while rookie goalie Jacob Fowler lost both games. Primeau stole Game 3 for Laval, and why head coach Pascal Vincent turned to Fowler in Game 4 is still beyond me.
Primeau made 27 saves on Sunday to make sure Rochester could never get into the game.
In the series, the 25-year-old was 3-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.
In five games this series, Levi allowed 18 goals after allowing just two in the first three games of the playoffs against Syracuse. He faced 34 shots in Game 5, which is more than he usually sees.
In this series, he was 2-3 with a 3.64 goals-against average and an .862 save percentage. Overall, he was 5-3 in the playoffs with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
In two seasons, Levi has played 13 playoff games, going 7-6 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
Jiri Kulich started off well in the playoffs, scoring two goals and seven points in four games. However, in his last three games, he had just one assist.
For a player that seemed to have come so far in the NHL this season, that lack of production when the Amerks really needed it was disappointing.
Laval now advances to the Eastern Conference Final in the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they will face the Charlotte Checkers in a best-of-seven series.